TORONTO — After finding out the Yankees took a local kid on Monday night in the first round of this year’s Major League Baseball draft, Yankees manager Aaron Boone wanted to make Watchung, N.J., native Anthony Volpe’s surreal day a little bit better.
And so, Boone tracked down the 18-year-old shortstop from Delbarton School’s cell number from scouting director Damon Oppenheimer, and then …
Actually, Boone hesitated over making the call because it was so late at night.
“Is he up,” Boone asked Oppenheimer.
“He’s up,” Oppenheimer replied.
Boone dialed the number, and, yes, Volpe definitely was up. And, according to Boone, it sounded like there still was a festive atmosphere at the kid’s home.
“It was neat,” Boone said Tuesday before the Yankees’ opened a two-city road trip with a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. “You could tell he was really excited obviously, (and) to hear the people in the background and stuff … It was cool for me to get the opportunity to call and just talk to him for a couple of minutes, and hopefully it’s a call that’s the start of welcoming him into our organization.
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What was Volpe’s reaction to getting a call from Boone, whose club had an off day in Toronto on Monday?
“He thought it was pretty neat,” Boone said. “It was a neat reaction and he was obviously very excited being taken by the Yankees.”
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.